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Another recruit...

OK, so I must admit that after my section hike of Georgia with my daughter Roo a few weeks ago that these hammock things interest me... My Hubba Hubba was great, but if I go solo I would rather do something with easy setup and lighter for sure.

I have been looking around and am leaning toward the Speer IIIA. I am also a supporter of the USA made stuff, and especially the little guy trying to eek out a living. I just ordered a ULA pack from Brian in Utah, and want to continue along that vain with my hammock. I am not ruling out Hennessey though by any means.

I do have a back injury I sustained in a helicopter crash 20 years ago, and am a bit concerned about the comfort. Anybody have a similar problem and any experience or suggestions?

OK, so I must admit that after my section hike of Georgia with my daughter Roo a few weeks ago that these hammock things interest me... My Hubba Hubba was great, but if I go solo I would rather do something with easy setup and lighter for sure.

I have been looking around and am leaning toward the Speer IIIA. I am also a supporter of the USA made stuff, and especially the little guy trying to eek out a living. I just ordered a ULA pack from Brian in Utah, and want to continue along that vain with my hammock. I am not ruling out Hennessey though by any means.

I do have a back injury I sustained in a helicopter crash 20 years ago, and am a bit concerned about the comfort. Anybody have a similar problem and any experience or suggestions?

I appreciate any suggestions or advice any of you could provide.

Buckowens, welcome aboard, glad to have you with us. I, and many others here, can say with a resonable measure of certainty that there is no turning back to the ground once you've hammocked. You'll be glad you did. If you're looking at Ed's stuff, you won't be disappointed at all. Speer Hammocks makes and sells quality gear at reasonable prices and Ed's customer service is absolutely second to none. On a side note, if you ever get to one of his hangouts, you'll never meet a nicer guy. Hope you can make it in the fall, it's a lot of fun to go to those hangouts. I made the one in April and had a blast. I met a lot of really nice folks and learned a lot.

"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl

First, realize that hammocking has a learning curve. Just like camping had a learning curve in the beginning, but now you have a new set of skills to learn. And when you look at it that way, that you're learning a whole new set of skills, you won't get so frustrated when something small goes wrong and interrupts your sleep.

Second, test a lot. Practice setting up at home so you don't have to figure it out in the rain at dusk. Figure out at home or car camping what insulation you need for certain temps...so if you didn't bring enough, you have a quick bailout plan.

Third, if you find a problem, someone here has probably already experienced it before and found a solution (like slowhike's back injury). So when you hit a stumbling block (or when you find an innovative solution to something you ran into), come back here and share it...I'm sure it'll generate some good discussion and spur on several other ideas for solutions.

And last, make sure you have a good insulation plan. You'll probably need some bottom insulation below ~65F. Pads, underquilts, etc...it's really pretty simple, but figuring it out at first can be daunting. This page might help get your started:http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCampingWarm.html

“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall when the wise are banished from the public councils because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” ~Judge Joseph Story

In response to your concern about back problems, I think Rockstar can help you out there. I'm not positive, but I do believe she had a back injury a while back, and that is why she uses a hammock now. She will be taking one on a thru hike next year. If you can't get completely comfortable, maybe you can sweet talk her into giving you here secrets for sleeping in a hammock with a back injury.

welcome to the group buckowens.
i was recently asked about my back injury & told the person that i should find another place on the web to tell that story in more detail for those that are occasionally interested. then i could just share a link to that site.

but in short, i broke my back & a bunch of ribs when i slipped & fell from a tree while recovering a hung-up bear bag line w/ it's rock sack in the panthertown wilderness area, nc, in 2002.

back injuries vary from person to person of course & broken bones are a whole different ball game from disk problems. from all i hear, i'm thankful to have had a broken back rather than disk problems.
as much as anything, i believe in recent years, any discomforts i still have from that accident are associated w/ more w/ the broken ribs & the scar tissue from the two surgeries rather than the broken vertebrae.
but those things have continued to improve to the point that i can sleep fine on the taught fabric of the hammock, but the extra comfort of the insulated air mats that i have become accustomed to keep drawing me back<g>.
i use the big agness (BA) insulated aircore in warmer times & the exped down air mat (DAM) in colder temps. ...tim

OK, so I must admit that after my section hike of Georgia with my daughter Roo a few weeks ago that these hammock things interest me... My Hubba Hubba was great, but if I go solo I would rather do something with easy setup and lighter for sure.

I have been looking around and am leaning toward the Speer IIIA. I am also a supporter of the USA made stuff, and especially the little guy trying to eek out a living. I just ordered a ULA pack from Brian in Utah, and want to continue along that vain with my hammock. I am not ruling out Hennessey though by any means.

I do have a back injury I sustained in a helicopter crash 20 years ago, and am a bit concerned about the comfort. Anybody have a similar problem and any experience or suggestions?

I appreciate any suggestions or advice any of you could provide.

Welcome Buckowens,

I have 2 Hennessy hammocks as well as a older Speer hammock. Am planning on making a DIY 10 foot hammock soon. A top loader may be better for back injuries as some have suggested before. That new Speer set-up really is nice.
I think it is the best combo hammock and tarp out there that does not have you thinking of upgrading to a bigger tarp. That tarp is pretty nice.

welcome buckowens, and i have broken my back, and also have herniated/ruptured disks in my lumbar and cervical. so yes, hammock is the way to go. never felt better since i returned to backpacking after being told i had to give it up!and like justfeff mentoined, there is a learning curve. i use a top entry hammock and i think its less of a lerning curve for it(just my opinion.